Tips for Shooting One Photo A Day for 365 Days

Having recently completed Project 366 (creating 366 consecutive photographs each day in 2008) inspired by the flickr group, I've felt a great sense of accomplishment, coupled with a huge sigh of relief. I'm now honeymooning over the fact that there is no pressure to shoot every single day. And yet, I'm still shooting every day.

If you've thought about taking this project on, I highly recommend it. Simply put, it changed my life. It taught me to see. To push myself creatively. And it forced the discipline I needed to bring clarity to my future – ultimately giving me the courage I needed to trade a comfortable career to follow my dream of being an artist full time, focusing on photography and digital media productions.

If you decide to start your own Project 365 (and I hope you do), here are a five tips to guide your journey:

1. Take your camera out with you every day. I purchased a small, inexpensive backback big enough to fit my DSLR and turned it into my purse. Sometimes I would stuff an alternative lens in the bag, but more often than not, it was sort of fun to use the lens I had at the time and to find creative ways to make an image work with the lens I had on hand.

2. Shoot at least one shot in the morning. Let's face it, there are days that zoom so fast it's easy to forget essential day-to-day tasks like reminding one's child to brush his teeth, transfering wet clothes into the dryer, meeting an unreasonable client deadline, shuffling papers on your kitchen counter, etc. If you shoot at least one shot in the morning before your day gets out of hand, you're covered.

3. Set up a method to organize and share your series as you progress. When I initially started, I uploaded and titled each of my daily image selections on flickr (i.e., Day 1, Day 2, et.) and contributed the images to the Project 365 flickr group. Being a part of this group kept me inspired and engaged. It felt great to know that so many other folks around the world were traveling on this journey with me. When I first saw someone's image in the group labelled Day 365, I could visualize completion despite the long road ahead. The group also offers weekly challenges to inspire image ideas.

4. Use this opportunity to get comfortable with your camera. If you typically shoot in Auto mode, you might consider learning one new feature of your camera each month. For example, during month one, you could learn to use Aperture Priority mode and experiment using different aperture settings. Month two, you could try different ISO settings – shooting indoor shots with a higher ISO setting instead of using your flash. You could grow to love that grainy texture in certain situations.

5. Never say "I have nothing to shoot." You are likely to think this around Day 62, but don't say it. There is always something to shoot. Walk outside. Lie down on the floor and look up. Turn over onto your belly and rest your camera on the floor. Look in the mirror. Take the long way home. Tell a stranger you are looking for an image of the day and see what comes to his/her mind. Use this opportunity to seek out and celebrate something unique each day.

If you've done Project 365 or if you're in the process of this project, tell us about your experience and share your tips. And if you are leaning on the edge of this amazing journey, will you leap?

What's your natural vision?

Last night I finished a great little book, "Letting Go of the Camera: Essays on Photography and the Creative Life" by Brooks Jensen, Editor of LensWork.  While most of my favorite photography books are filled with rich images, this one is exclusively comprised of words. Insight. Lessons learned. Random thoughts. It's not about aperture settings, exposure tips nor digital image manipulation. It's a collection of essays that stretched my thinking and prompted self-exploration about my recent choice to follow the path of photography into a professional space.

In chapter 26, Brooks Jensens encourages you to "discover your natural vision," suggesting that photographers might "...(come) to recognize that we (are) naturally predisposed to see in some ways more strongly than in others. By knowing this, we could more easily know when it might be best to work intuitively and when it might be best to work intellectually or carefully."

I immediately thought about a conversation I had with a friend the other night. "So how would you characterize what you like to shoot?" she asked. I paused for a moment. I've been pushing and stretching myself beyond my "natural vision" for the past few months in an effort to get the most from my Project 365 experience. I'm purposefully trying to shoot what does not come naturally for me, yet intrigues me. And I'm enjoying this challenge. But I must say, I feel most comfortable within close range of my subjects and when I'm contorting my body around a subject to discover and share a small detail in a simple composition. I suppose this would be my natural vision.

How would you define your natural vision at this moment in time? Can you articulate it? Show us an image that best represents it.

Pushing Past the Fear Factor

There aren't many things I do every single day. I brush my teeth. Read. Look out the window. Eat. Move my feet. Say "I love you." Tap on my keyboard (though not necessarily in this order).  And while caffeine consumption does make the list each day, things like showering, vacuuming and staying properly hydrated do not. So when the idea of Project 365 entered my periphery, my first instinct was to let it blur into oblivion.

Project 365 is a flickr group of nearly four thousand members who shoot and share one photo every single day, consecutively for 365 days. Eek. How could someone commit to this, I thought.

Well, Danisoul did and her inspiring Project 365 flickr set intrigued me enough to bring the project  and my fear of commitment into focus. Do I really need another something to do each day? No. Not really. Well. Maybe. Will it improve my photography skills? Probably. Might it push me to carry my camera with me more places? Yes, I suppose it would. Would I discover inspiring photographers and bask in new perspectives? Well, yes. What if I want to stop? Hmmm. Could I push myself through lapses in creativity and find something beautiful each day? I wasn't sure, but made an assumption.

So I've been shooting photos every day for 103 days, contributing to the Project 365 flickr pool and building a set of images to serve as a visual landscape of one year in time.  I'm loving this project and the much needed discipline and challenge it's brought to my creative process. It's opened my eyes in many ways.

What about you? Do you take photos everyday?  Are you participating in Project 365? Inspired to start "day one" today? Do share a link to your flickr set or blog in the comments so we can follow you.